Enduro/AM - The Weight Game

Super lucky here in that we have so many county roads and gravel paths. Did a 160km loop a few weeks back and barely touched a road.

We've also seen a drastic change in market. So many people moving away from traditional road bikes and into gravel bikes. Can barely sell race geo bikes this year.

Been taking out a gravel bike a few times recently and definitely get the appeal. Especially when you can just stick road tires/wheels on if really want to. Might not be quite as fast as a full on road bike with the tread but I'd much rather the ability to go off road so much more comfortably. Also digging the disc brakes. Not sure I can get into riding them a lot where I live in my free time but it's nice to commute on when the weather's agreeable. Could see myself getting one if/when I move elsewhere.

Maybe that's the other thing, I've never lived someplace that didn't have tremendous traffic on most roads near where I lived.

In Erie, I lived in the city so most of my riding was urban commuting. In Lancaster as a kid and as an adult roads were pretty narrow so even on roads with less traffic you had to be worried about getting run over at blind corners and what not. In Flagstaff all of our paved roads have tons of traffic, so it's better to just ride gravel.

And since I'm in no hurry when I'm riding gravel, I'll either ride my dadbike (1990 Marin) or my Trail Pistol.

Bingo. There's a few bikes that bridge the gap well, like the cannondale synapse or scott addict cx, but most people just straight up want a comfort geo gravel bike. Kona is killing it this year. Topstone has done well. Marin Nicasio and Gesault have also done very well with us.

I'm personally glad to see this market shift where people are being more realistic about their needs on a bike. 1x drivetrains and disc brakes have really made it way more appealing to the market.

On another topic, there's been a few spy shots posted of the new Hightower and Tallboy. Saw the Hightower, anyone have the pics of the Tallboy by chance?

We've also seen a drastic change in market. So many people moving away from traditional road bikes and into gravel bikes. Can barely sell race geo bikes this year.

I can only see this trend continuing. Unless you're racing competitively there's just so many better options. I've owned three 'race' bikes and after putting some legit miles on the Domane, I'll never go back to that extreme geometry. Anything I could've done on my previous bikes I can do on this one with only a the slimmest marginal penalty to speed or handling. They just offer so little advantage compared to more flexible bikes that expand where you can ride and how long you can do so comfortably. I could see myself picking up a more dedicated gravel bike, or maybe a cross bike, but I'll never again buy a road race bike. Maybe it's partially just me getting older but I see that market drying up more and more as more versatile bikes continue to get better.

We've also seen a drastic change in market. So many people moving away from traditional road bikes and into gravel bikes. Can barely sell race geo bikes this year.

I can only see this trend continuing. Unless you're racing competitively there's just so many better options. I've owned three 'race' bikes and after putting some legit miles on the Domane, I'll never go back to that extreme geometry. Anything I could've done on my previous bikes I can do on this one with only a the slimmest marginal penalty to speed or handling. They just offer so little advantage compared to more flexible bikes that expand where you can ride and how long you can do so comfortably. I could see myself picking up a more dedicated gravel bike, or maybe a cross bike, but I'll never again buy a road race bike. Maybe it's partially just me getting older but I see that market drying up more and more as more versatile bikes continue to get better.

Totally agree. Hardcore race bikes with a foot of saddle-to-bar drop just don't make sense for most people. Most riders on "aggressive" geometry can barely use the drops, often losing so much biomechanical efficiency that they end up slower than on the hoods - not to mention having no fun in the process.

Similarly, few of us ride fast enough for the aerodynamics of wide tires to slow us down. The decreased comfort and confidence of narrow tires on descents and rough roads may even be slower, overall - again, not to mention being less fun.

It's similar to how the mountain bike market converged into the trail / all-mountain / enduro segment: XC race bikes and DH race bikes have such a narrow range of use - and are so awful outside that range - that they lost market share to far more versatile bikes.

I used to be fast on a cross and road bike... Like top 20 nationally as a junior... I got on my CX race bike from 2011 the other day and hated myself after about 2 miles.. Those race bikes suck balls. I just was young and dumb and flexable then.

I got myself setup on one of our demo bikes at the shop and my fit is litterally like 3 inches shorter, way more upright and amazingly.... Vastly more comfortable.

I need to break down and just sell my old school race bikes and just buy a nice cozy 45c gravel bike. I don't race road or even really CX anymore, so road riding on big tires would be fine, the occasional Beer league CX race would be doable, and also do gravel rides that are so kick ass here.. Groad is one of our best selling markets here too.

Bingo. There's a few bikes that bridge the gap well, like the cannondale synapse or scott addict cx, but most people just straight up want a comfort geo gravel bike. Kona is killing it this year. Topstone has done well. Marin Nicasio and Gesault have also done very well with us.

I'm personally glad to see this market shift where people are being more realistic about their needs on a bike. 1x drivetrains and disc brakes have really made it way more appealing to the market.

On another topic, there's been a few spy shots posted of the new Hightower and Tallboy. Saw the Hightower, anyone have the pics of the Tallboy by chance?

Bingo. There's a few bikes that bridge the gap well, like the cannondale synapse or scott addict cx, but most people just straight up want a comfort geo gravel bike. Kona is killing it this year. Topstone has done well. Marin Nicasio and Gesault have also done very well with us.

I'm personally glad to see this market shift where people are being more realistic about their needs on a bike. 1x drivetrains and disc brakes have really made it way more appealing to the market.

On another topic, there's been a few spy shots posted of the new Hightower and Tallboy. Saw the Hightower, anyone have the pics of the Tallboy by chance?

Finished building it this morning and did some car park laps - no trail use yet. Feels good though.

It still needs a brace between the uprights of the rear triangle - that's the last thing. Part is going to be water jet cut out of stainless steel sheet - I'm hoping to do it this week. So I'm just waiting on that before I take it to the trails